The Secret Weapon of Atlantis
by Soledad
Summary: You thought it was the control chair? Well, think again!


**Title: The Secret Weapon of Atlantis**

**Author:** Soledad

**Genre:** Humour

**Rating:** General, suitable for all

**Series/sequel:** A short vignette out of my lengthy "Moments of Joy" story.

**Archiving:** my website and the Otherworlds.

**Disclaimer:** don't own them, no money made.

**Timeframe:** shortly before the 1st Season episode "Hide and Seek".

**Summary:** You thought the secret weapon of Atlantis was the control chair? Think again!

**Author's note:**

I use a few supporting characters here who only appeared in the show in Season 2, simply assuming that they were members of the original expedition. I found this better than adding a bunch of OCs to such a short piece.

**xxx**

He had been buried in his lab for days, often falling asleep over his still activated laptop, running on power bars and caffeine alone. There was so much to do, the abundance of Ancient technology all around them so fascinating, the problems they were facing on an hourly basis so complex that even if he could go entirely without sleep, there would never have been enough time.

Of course, life and work would have been a lot easier, had he possessed the ATA gene. As he did not, he was dependant on his more fortunate colleagues to activate various pieces of equipment for him, or give him access to previously unused Ancient databases. And while Dr. Kusanagi was extremely helpful, he felt guilty for calling her away from her own work repeatedly, so that he could move on with his. Breaking a scientist's concentration could ruin hours of hard work. It had happened to him, too, several times, back on Antarctica as well as here. Rodney McKay was brilliant, but working for him – or even _with_ him – could be… tiring at times.

"Dr. Zelenka?"

He looked up from his work at the pretty brunette in mild irritation. He knew she was one of the botanists but had never exchanged more than a casual greeting with her. She had a very common name… Smith? Jones? Something like that. He wasn't sure. Most American names sounded almost the same for him.

"Yes, yes, what can I do for you, Doctor…?"

"Brown," she supplied helpfully. "Katie Brown. And we need an engineer… a good one."

"Am truly flattered," he said with a tired smile. "What do you need me for? And who is _we_?"

"Dr. Parrish and I," she explained. "We have found the greenhouses of Atlantis and are getting rid of the 'ten-thousand-year-old dead plants', as Dr. Weir would put it. A few Athosians are helping us, but we need to restart the heating and watering systems. We hope that in time, we'll be able to grow our own food, or at least part of it. The Athosians are farmers and gardeners, we could use their experience."

"I doubt that they would be much help with hydroponics," Radek said, climbing down from his lab stool to follow the botanist.

"Oh, no," Katie Brown said, falling in step on his side, "it's not a hydroponics garden. It's a good, old-fashioned, down-to-Earth greenhouse – well, several greenhouses, actually – with beets and honest dirt and all that. We just don't seem to be able to start the environmental systems."

"There could be problem," Radek told her. "We might need ATA-gene for starting system." His English tended to deteriorate when he was this tired, and it annoyed him to no end. Fortunately, Dr. Brown didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, we have Sergeant Markham keeping an eye on us," he said. "He does have the gene… but none of the engineering knowledge. I know a thing or two about electronics, my father is an engineer, but those systems are way beyond my league. I'm sorry to bother you about this…"

"No, no," Radek waved, a little impatiently, "no problem at all. I can use break from my own work."

"We have saved coffee for you," Katie offered conspiratorially. "Dr. Wagner brewed it… it would wake the dead – or kill the living."

Radek smiled at her. "Say no more. You can make me do _anything_ if bribe me with Austrian coffee."

They laughed. The Great Coffee War had been one of the insider jokes back on Antarctica already. The few Italians of the research team, plus Dr. Wagner, who originated from Vienna, and of course Radek himself, absolutely detested American coffee, which they called dirty water. The Germans and Americans – at least those who had dared to try _espresso_ to begin with – called it chemical warfare. To Radek's eternal regret, only two Italians managed to get into the Atlantis team, and aside from them, only Dr. Wagner knew how to make a decent _espresso_.

"You are addicted; all four of you," Katie said, shaking her head with a tolerant smile.

"No," Radek said earnestly, "Rodney is caffeine addict. We others just like taste of _good_ coffee."

The End

If you want more, the existing chapter of "Moments of Joy" are posted to the otherworldslib LJ community.


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